Zizek, a controversial professor of philosophy, justifies Iran's right to have the A-bomb, from an interesting deconstructionist philosophical point of view, in the last issue of
In These Times.
As to Iran and nukes, the surprising fact is that the MAD logic still operates today: Why hasn't the tension between India and Pakistan exploded into an all-out war? Because both sides are nuclear powers. Why have the Arab states not risked another attack on Israel? Because Israel is a nuclear power. So why should this MAD logic not work in the case of Iran? The standard counter-argument is that in Iran, Muslim fundamentalists are in power who may be tempted to nuke Israel. (Iran is the only large Arab state which not only does not diplomatically recognize Israel, but resolutely denies its right to exist as a state). Is, however, the Iranian regime really so "irrational"? Isn't Pakistan, with its nuclear arms and its secret services' ties to al-Qaeda, a much greater threat? Furthermore, two decades ago, Iran was brutally attacked by Iraq (with active U.S. support), so it has every right to feel threatened.
There is a common idea among iranians that says If Iran had the atomic weapons, "US and Iraq" didnt dare to attack Iran and kill more than 500,000 of Iranians.